By Melanie Hogan

 The Silk Road is an extensive interconnected network of trade routes connecting Asia, the Mediterranean, Africa, and Europe, extending 4000 miles.  The Silk Road gets its name from the Chinese Silk Trade.  The Silk Road was really a rough caravan track over land, and water routes were traveled by boat.

 The Silk Road came into existence in the First Century B.C. to connect the Western World and India  A shipping route of the Silk Road also came about probably by the 1 st Century as well

 During the Han Dynasty, Zhang Qian opened the Silk Roads for trading  The roads were used for about 1600 years until the collapse of the Yuan Dynasty  It was named the Silk Road by Ferdinand von Richthofen in 1877 because silk was the main item of trade

 The Silk Road created trade routes between countries allowing the barter of goods  Increased the number of foreign merchants in China  Exposed the Chinese to different cultures and religions.

Chinese map of the Silk Trade Routes